Where Were You When...
It's strange to think of the things we humans experience during our lifetimes. Everyone inevitably encounters incredible things and has amazing stories they can share with others down the road and, tonight, I just got to thinking about some of the headline stories I (and most likely most of you) have already experienced during my 24 years of life on this earth. I must say, twenty four years seems like a long time to have lived already -- a long time to have lived, to have learned, and to have loved. For this blog, I would just like to mention where I was during certain events in history and then ask you to reply to the question: WHERE WERE YOU WHEN these occured? It doesn't have to be for all of them if you don't have the time.
Here are only a few of the many, mainly tragic, Headline stories I remember, including where I was at the time when I heard the news (I must note that these are just a few off the top of my head and are not in any type of order; Again, these are just a handful of millions of headlines stories. Also, one should be reminded: just because it wasn't a national headline doesn't mean it wasn't important):
The Death of Princess Diana - It was around midnight and I had been sleeping on the couch in the den of my old house. My mom came in, frantically woke me up, turned on the tv and said, "The paparazzi has killed Princess Diana!" Shocked, I asked who the paparazzi was -- the word itself sounded very scary -- as if some acid-trip gang from "Alice n' Wonderland" had done her in. Just to note: To my knowledge, my mom no longer believes the paparazzi was to blame.
Tragedy at Waco/The Branch Dividians - I was in the 6th grade and my family and I had been paying close attention to the news covering the standoff there at the cult compound. One day, my dad picked me up from school and said, "Well, they killed the Branch Dividians today" (not that I agreed either way). It was quite a shock. We stayed up really late watching the news that night.
Oklahoma City Bombing - I am not quite sure where I was when I heard the news of the tragedy. However, something that still stands out in my mind when I think about this tragedy is the famous picture of the firefighter carrying the body of a deceased baby whom was covered in ashes. Absolutely horrifying.
Columbine - I don't remember where I was when I heard the news, but the news stories were just shocking and horribly saddening. All I can still ask is "WHY?"
O.J. Aquitted - I am not positive, but I think I was a freshman in highschool. I remember walking out of my class, into passing period, and hearing an older classmen yell into the halls "The Juice is Loose!" and people started cheering. The atmosphere was definately one of a hyper one, despite whether or not people agreed with the verdict.
Columbia Space Tragedy - I believe my mom called me early that morning and told me to turn on the tv. I turned it on and saw, on nearly all channels, that the Columbia had exploded. My mom had actually been outside at the time of explosion and described it as a "Sonic boom that shook the ground." Much of the debris fell in and around my hometown county.
September 11th - I began this Tuesday morning like any Tuesday morning. I woke up a little before 7 a.m., turned on "The Today Show" with my pals Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, got dressed, and headed out the door to my 8 a.m. Psyc Tests & Measurements class. After class had gotten out, a friend, Kristy, had asked me to walk clear across campus with her to the campus center. Strangely, I usually didn't take such a detour since my next class (at 9:30 a.m.) was in The Walling Lecture Hall, right on the side of campus where my 8 a.m. class had been. Whatever the case, I decided to take the detour.
When we entered the campus center, there were at least 30 or 40 people crowded around the main tv that was mounted in the center of the room. I wasn't quite sure what to think at first but I knew it had to be pretty bad as I heard the words "hijacking" on the tv. One girl in the crowd said, "Where are the World Trade Centers?" The world would soon know...
I remember then going to my 9:30 class only to have the professor let us out after 10 minutes, telling us to go home, pray, and watch tv because we were "witnessing history." So, I went home. As I walked in the door my phone was ringing and it was my sister, asking if I had heard and telling me she was scared. Then, my mom called. Then, my dad. The rest of my day (and many to come) was spent glued to my tv -- the innocent words of Katie Couric (from re-runs) lingering in my head, "It appears as if a plane has just flown into the World Trade Center."
One of the many things that stood out to me during those first few critical hours was seeing people's loved ones lined up by the hundreds up and down the streets of New York, holding pictures of their loved ones up to the tv cameras, tearfully pleeing things such as, "If you have seen him, please please please call...," or "If you are out there, please let me know you're okay. I love you." It makes my eyes tear up to think that most of those people never saw their loved one again.
September 11th, 2001, was probably the most silent day I had ever heard on campus.
Hurricane Katrina - Absolutely devastating. I have followed the storm very closely ever since it became of concern several hundred miles off shore. I cannot begin to imagine what those individuals suffering the devastation are going through. I have seen several stories of people separated from family members with no way of contacting them. Just tonight there was a story on the news about newborns being flown to Medical City in Dallas for care -- many of the babies' mothers were not able to be reached to tell them where they were taking the baby. There are so many stories of destructions that it is unbelieveable. This storm is going to effect everyone in the nation.
Here are only a few of the many, mainly tragic, Headline stories I remember, including where I was at the time when I heard the news (I must note that these are just a few off the top of my head and are not in any type of order; Again, these are just a handful of millions of headlines stories. Also, one should be reminded: just because it wasn't a national headline doesn't mean it wasn't important):
The Death of Princess Diana - It was around midnight and I had been sleeping on the couch in the den of my old house. My mom came in, frantically woke me up, turned on the tv and said, "The paparazzi has killed Princess Diana!" Shocked, I asked who the paparazzi was -- the word itself sounded very scary -- as if some acid-trip gang from "Alice n' Wonderland" had done her in. Just to note: To my knowledge, my mom no longer believes the paparazzi was to blame.
Tragedy at Waco/The Branch Dividians - I was in the 6th grade and my family and I had been paying close attention to the news covering the standoff there at the cult compound. One day, my dad picked me up from school and said, "Well, they killed the Branch Dividians today" (not that I agreed either way). It was quite a shock. We stayed up really late watching the news that night.
Oklahoma City Bombing - I am not quite sure where I was when I heard the news of the tragedy. However, something that still stands out in my mind when I think about this tragedy is the famous picture of the firefighter carrying the body of a deceased baby whom was covered in ashes. Absolutely horrifying.
Columbine - I don't remember where I was when I heard the news, but the news stories were just shocking and horribly saddening. All I can still ask is "WHY?"
O.J. Aquitted - I am not positive, but I think I was a freshman in highschool. I remember walking out of my class, into passing period, and hearing an older classmen yell into the halls "The Juice is Loose!" and people started cheering. The atmosphere was definately one of a hyper one, despite whether or not people agreed with the verdict.
Columbia Space Tragedy - I believe my mom called me early that morning and told me to turn on the tv. I turned it on and saw, on nearly all channels, that the Columbia had exploded. My mom had actually been outside at the time of explosion and described it as a "Sonic boom that shook the ground." Much of the debris fell in and around my hometown county.
September 11th - I began this Tuesday morning like any Tuesday morning. I woke up a little before 7 a.m., turned on "The Today Show" with my pals Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, got dressed, and headed out the door to my 8 a.m. Psyc Tests & Measurements class. After class had gotten out, a friend, Kristy, had asked me to walk clear across campus with her to the campus center. Strangely, I usually didn't take such a detour since my next class (at 9:30 a.m.) was in The Walling Lecture Hall, right on the side of campus where my 8 a.m. class had been. Whatever the case, I decided to take the detour.
When we entered the campus center, there were at least 30 or 40 people crowded around the main tv that was mounted in the center of the room. I wasn't quite sure what to think at first but I knew it had to be pretty bad as I heard the words "hijacking" on the tv. One girl in the crowd said, "Where are the World Trade Centers?" The world would soon know...
I remember then going to my 9:30 class only to have the professor let us out after 10 minutes, telling us to go home, pray, and watch tv because we were "witnessing history." So, I went home. As I walked in the door my phone was ringing and it was my sister, asking if I had heard and telling me she was scared. Then, my mom called. Then, my dad. The rest of my day (and many to come) was spent glued to my tv -- the innocent words of Katie Couric (from re-runs) lingering in my head, "It appears as if a plane has just flown into the World Trade Center."
One of the many things that stood out to me during those first few critical hours was seeing people's loved ones lined up by the hundreds up and down the streets of New York, holding pictures of their loved ones up to the tv cameras, tearfully pleeing things such as, "If you have seen him, please please please call...," or "If you are out there, please let me know you're okay. I love you." It makes my eyes tear up to think that most of those people never saw their loved one again.
September 11th, 2001, was probably the most silent day I had ever heard on campus.
Hurricane Katrina - Absolutely devastating. I have followed the storm very closely ever since it became of concern several hundred miles off shore. I cannot begin to imagine what those individuals suffering the devastation are going through. I have seen several stories of people separated from family members with no way of contacting them. Just tonight there was a story on the news about newborns being flown to Medical City in Dallas for care -- many of the babies' mothers were not able to be reached to tell them where they were taking the baby. There are so many stories of destructions that it is unbelieveable. This storm is going to effect everyone in the nation.
posted by Holly at 8:28 PM
11 Comments:
Flooding Stops Presses and Broadcasts, So Journalists Turn to the Web
With their offices and presses flooded, news media outlets in New Orleans mostly abandoned newsprint and television broadcasts yesterday and set up shop on the Web.
Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!
I have a business opportunity site/blog. It pretty much covers business opportunity related stuff.
Come and check it out if you get time :-)
I personally don't want to find out about such a secret through a blog. Thanks (even though you are probably automated -- if not, show your true blog face.)
You're sure I'd be interested in "fat loss"? Hmm...
Death of Princess Diana- I was visiting my mom in St. Louis. The day before, I had heard Princess Di was injured in a car accident, but I thought she would be alright. Once the news broke that she had actually died, I still couldn't make the mental leap from 'injury' to 'death'. My mom, grandma and I watched the news for hours that day and spent a lot of time reminicing about her. It was really hard, especailly when we factored in what her poor children must have been going through.
September 11th- I was asleep when the phone rang in my apartment here in Independence. It was my husband. He was calm, but he told me to go turn on the news. I had a class at 11 am, but I was a little annoyed that I had been woken up early, until I saw what was going on. The phone started ringing a lot after that. I talked to my mom in St. Louis and my step-mom in Dallas. Everyone was just checking on everyone else because for all we knew, we were all going to be under attack. I did drive downtown to my classes, but it was pretty pointless because everyone wanted to watch the news, not the professor. Before my second class started, the teacher gave us the option to stay and watch the news or go home. She was leaving to pick up her son. I'm glad I went home right away because the main streets of the city were being closed one by one behind me as I drove away from KC. I remember looking up at the sky a lot as I drove.
Challenger Explosion- This wasn't mentioned during your original post, but it does deserve a mention. I was 11 years old and living in Florida when Challenger shuttle exploded. This flight was particularly important because it included the first civilian (a woman) in space. I was home from school with a cold and I remember watching endless footage of Dan Rather as he reported the sparse details over and over again. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the Challenger accident.
Stopped over at your blog, there's some great stuff there.
My site christian affiliate programs may be of interest to you. Come over for a visit where you can learn a bit more about issues dealing with christian affiliate programs.
Wow, thanks for your comments Creative Class. I think it is neat to hear where different people were at different times a single event occured. So, they closed the streets in Kansas City for precautionary reasons? Also, I hear ya about the phone rininging -- I bet the nations lines were VERY tied up that day. Also, you are right about the Challenger Explosion. I of course have heard and learned much about it over the years but, for some reason, I don't remember much about when it happened. I guess I was just too young at the time -- I would have probably been about 5 years old. In deed, what a tragedy. I will be interested in what they do for the 20th anniversary. Thanks again, CCD!
Holly: great post idea! I will comment, but can't right now as it is 6:30 AM and i have to finish getting ready and leave. Since i have class tonight also I might not get around to it tonight, but I will either tomorrow or this weekend!
You put OJ's aquittal on here...what about MJ's!? ;) Tee hee hee!
First of all...You have more random anonymous comments than any other blog I've ever seen!
Princess Di - I found out about her death at church. One of my friends asked if I had heard. Then, of course, for the following week at school-that's all anyone talked about.
Waco- I was eating pizza in Canton at Jerry's Pizza(my favorite pizza) when we saw everything on the big screen tv.
Columbine-I was in my high school leadership class. We watched the televisions all over school all day. After that...our hight school ran repeated drills on what to do if a "Columbine" situation happens at our school. Our teachers were given special training, we had bomb threat drills...I guess things were really never the same.
OJ-I was in Junior High...my gifted and talented class sat in the library the entire time watching tv waiting for the verdict.
Space tragedy - The one back in the eighties, I was young, but I remember my mom crying. The one a few years ago, I was in college and remember talking to my mom because some of the space ship pieces landed in East Texas too.
Sept. 11th-I left the dorm and headed to Excercise Science. They cancelled class and we all went into Moody colesium to watch the news on the big screen. We were able to see the second plane hit the second tower. I will never forget the horror as we watched in disbelief.
Hurricane Katrina-Much like you, Holly, I have been keeping close watch on the devastation caused by Katrina. Every morning I'm glued to Good Morning America and in the evenings I've been switching back and forth from hurricane specials. It's an amazing disaster and much of the nation is helpless. For those who feel helples and are unsure what to do, I encourage you to donate to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Unicef, or any other charity directly involved in this mission. For those who cannot give, I encourage you to pray.
Like I mentioned earlier, this is a GREAT idea for a post! Fun times...okay...
The Death of Princess Diana: I remember exactly what I was doing. It was late on a Sat. night and my older brother and I were in the living room in the dark, with the tv on really low, so we didn't wake up the younger siblings who were sleeping in the room right next to us. We were watching Saturday Night Live...HA! I remember I was really mad that they interupted SNL to break in with the news report. I was like, what the crap. HA! (it's funny how we think when we are kids...HA!) But yeah, that was what I was doing. And I was like, aww man, I'm not going to get to finish SNL now, however, if i remember correctly, my brother and I used it as a good "excuse" to stay up past our midnight bedtime (since it was a church night) and talk about the situation with my mom and dad, when we ran downstairs to their where they were to see if they had they tv on.
The Tragedy in Waco: Okay, this is going to sound really bad, but I have NO clue. As a non-Texan, I think it wasn't discussed as much in MO as it was in TX, not that is wasn't discussed, but since I would have been apparently in 5th grade (since I honestly don't remember, but if you were in 6th Holly, I was in 5th, HA!) it wasn't a hot topic of discussion for 5th graders, especially since it didn't "hit home" as you might say, as it did for a lot of you Texans. I think I recall seeing a picture of it on tv burning, but other than that, I couldn't tell ya.
Oklahoma City Bombing: I remember when I first heard about it. The bombing was at 9 AM that morning, but I didn't hear about it till after school. I was in 7th grade and I had stayed after school that day for Future Problem Solving Club with my buddies and my favorite teacher and myself and I think maybe 4 other students (my friends) were having our club meeting outside because it was a nice afternoon and our club sponsor, the teacher, told us what had happened that day. I think we were all kinda shocked, but I don’t really remember what much of our reaction was. I know the teacher was saying she had family in Oklahoma I think. I actually have a second cousin that works in the federal building next door to the one that was bombed; kinda scary. I’ve also been on a couple occasions to see the memorial they have there now, it is really nice. You should stop to see it if you are ever there. I found this incident rather interesting and actually read an entire book about it (I say that because I can probably count the number of whole books I’ve ever read on my two hands…kinda sad, but still)
Columbine: I can’t remember where I was when I heard about Columbine. But that was really sad and it has always been a topic of interest for me. I’ve read up on this one and watched several documentaries on it as well.
O.J. Aquitted: I don’t remember on this one either. Have I mentioned I have a TERRIBLE and I mean TERRIBLE memory?!
Columbia Space Tragedy: I can’t remember for sure on this one, but I think it was on like a Sat. or a Sunday and I woke up that morning and was doing my normal routine in my apartment bedroom: rolled out of bed into my desk chair to check my email and I saw the news headlines about it on the internet. WAIT…I lied…I THINK I had turned on the tv while lying in bed and saw that all the channels had it on and the little subtitle at the bottom of the screen filled me in. So I think I ended up going in the living room and turning it on to show my roommates.
September 11th: I, like you Holly, was in the same Psychology class. And I recall we got out a little early I think, like around 9:05 AM and I had made the trek back to Sikes from Zona Luce and the first person to tell me about what was going on was Hollie Inwood. She worked our desk in the lobby and I would always talk to her when I would come back from my class (Heck, I was wanting to be a GATA, so I had to talk to all the GATAs during that time…HA!) Hollie was like, “Oh my gosh, look at this!” She had the tv in the lobby on. So I watched about 5 minutes of it with her and I was like, I gotta go upstairs and see if my friends know this is going on. So I went upstairs to check on two of my best friends who lived in the room right across the hall from my room. They didn’t have 8 o’clocks, but they both had 9:30s and I would always check on them in the mornings, so I barged in there and was like, “TURN ON THE TV.” Well, it’s kinda funny, but one of them is TOTALLY not a morning person and I was like, “New York is being attacked by terrorists. The World Trade Center building was just hit by a plane!” and one of my friends goes, “So.” LOL…I laugh now, but I it isn’t funny. Later, once she was more awake, and realized what was truly going on, she was a lot more sympathetic, I promise.
I didn’t have a 9:30 class, nor did my roommate, Lajours. So her and I just sat in our room with BOTH our tvs (yes, we each had our own little ones by our beds) turned on to the channels. I remember we both just kept saying, “I can’t believe this! This is crazy! This is so sad!” I’ll never forget watching the live shots of the buildings each collapsing. Breathe taking. Literally unbelievable.
Hurricane Katrina: I’ll be completely honest, and as extremely sad at this is, I have been so non-stop this past week, I honestly haven’t watched one segment on the tv about Katrina coverage. The most I saw was BEFORE it hit, when I was watching the weather on the local news and they were saying they expected it to hit New Orleans the next day and that they expected gas prices to go up over night about 30 cents, so I left immediately and went and filled up my car. The only other coverage I have even seen was yesterday when I was at work and checking my email I saw a headline on the msn homepage that came up that said, “10,000 expected dead in LA.” I’ll be completely honest, I was floored, because I knew all this talk about Katrina and all the refugees and relief work going on meant it was quite a situation, but I had NO idea that that many people were expected dead. I mean that is more than Sept. 11th! In all honesty, I knew it had destroyed TONS of homes and areas, and while that is VERY sad, I had no idea it had killed so many. I honestly thought the death toll was going to be at like 30-100. As if that isn’t bad enough, thousands is unbelievable. I suppose I hadn’t fathomed the power of a hurricane. Wow…
The Death of Princess Diana--All I remember is that I lived in alaska at the time and my mom told me about it. I had no idea who she was (sad, I know!) but we did watch the story on tv for the rest of the day or night or whatever it was. I saved the newspaper the next day and I still have it. In fact, I just looked at it Saturday night.
Tragedy at Waco/The Branch Dividians--I've never even heard of that! Either I'm dumb or news must not travel around the US as it should since I was in Alaska when that happened (I concluded that since you said you were in 6th grade, which would have made me in 4th grade, which was when I was in AK).
Oklahoma City Bombing--I have no idea at all.
Columbine--Freshman year of high school. I was in my mom's room right after I got home from school chatting on AOL. I was watching MTV or something and they went to a breaking news report and showed all the stuff that was happening. I then turned it to a real new channel and watched the reports for hours.
O.J. Acquitted--We watched it live in my 6th grade classroom.
Columbia Space Tragedy--I was in my previous house cleaning my room when my mom called and told me what happened. Again, I watch the report on TV.
September 11th--Freshman year of college in my dorm. I woke up late for my class. As I was getting ready I noticed the burning buildings on my TV and decided to watch and see what was going on. After which, I called my mom's ofice--no answer. I called my sister--no answer. I called people in my mom's office--no answer. I looked around my dorm--nobody there! I went to class--not a soul!I started walking to the campus center and there was like, nobody on campus. I seriously thought that everyone died or something! It was deserted. I went to the campus center just as everyone was leaving chapel. Staff members had gone to chapel because of what was going on. It was a very scary day...
Hurricane Katrina--I don't have local channels or any news channels, I don't get the newspaper, I don't have class, or got to chapel, so I hadn't heard anything about it. i had no idea it was coming. Nobody had mentioned anything to me, so I had no idea where I was or anything. What first caught my attention was a report I read on msn.com that the hurricane had completely wiped a city off the map. I think that was on Wednesday...I've been following online and in magazines ever since.
P.S. Great post Holly! Thanks for sharing and stimulating our minds :)
Post a Comment
<< Home